I hate bucket lists.
Yes, I know I assigned "Bucket List" to you all as your Spin Cycle topic of the week, and now I'm saying I hate them. I don't hate other people's bucket lists, I just hate the idea of making one for myself.
I feel like it would just be setting myself up for failure. There are SOOOOOO many things I want to do in my life, and SOOOOOOO many places I want to go. And realistically, I won't get to most of them. I know it. So putting them down on a list is just too depressing.
But every now and then, there's something that you've always dreamed of doing, and never imagined that it could really happen for you, and then it just falls into your lap. Something you can officially check off your mental bucket list...
Y'all may or may not remember that I sing in my church choir. We're a small but mighty group, who sing at the 11:00 mass at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood. We sing good music. I should make that with a capital g - Good music. Like Handel. And Beethoven. And classic hymns. And...Mozart. Hmmm, Wolfie.
A couple of years ago, we were blessed to get a new choral director, Dr. Joe. Doctor as in PhD. He's wonderfully talented and great fun too. Well, Joe has been invited to conduct Mozart's Requiem. In New York. At...brace yourselves...Carnegie Hall.
And yes, we are going with him.
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
And so, in three weeks, on May 22, I'll be flying to New York. We have rehearsals on Thursday and Friday, and then at 8:00 pm, Saturday, May 25 I will actually be performing in Carnegie Hall. I am so excited I could spit.
We will be part of a large chorus, composed of 5 choirs, and Joe will be conducting us along with a professional symphony and professional NYC soloists. A tiny voice in the large group. But I don't care, it's something that every performer anywhere always dreams of.
Now granted, I'm not performing based on my own personal talent or merit, but simply because I'm lucky enough to be in Joe's choir. But I don't care.
I don't know if any of you know Mozart's Requiem. It's one of the most beautiful and thrilling pieces of choral music ever written. I get goosebumps during every rehearsal. It's Big Good music - that's two capital letters. You may remember it as the last piece of music that Mozart wrote at the end of Amadeus, when he's dying and going sort of crazy and Salieri helps him notate the music.
It is good stuff, y'all. Here's a video of the Dies Irae movement...
Outrageous, right?! I honestly don't know if I can describe the thrill that comes from singing something this beautiful in a choir. Especially a choir of people you love. And the idea of this choir that I love together in a huge choir + symphony + soloists in the most famous venue in the world is just mind-blowing. Here's the Kyrie...
We've been practicing hard, because we really want to sound good for Joe.
But more importantly, what am I going to wear?! Does anybody have a long black skirt I can borrow? Where does one even purchase a long black skirt?
If any of you are in the NYC area, and want to see a performance of Mozart's Requiem at Carnegie Hall, let me know. I have a connection for discounted tickets.
So I guess the answer to the age old question "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" isn't "Practice, practice, practice." but " Know Joe."
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Check out the other "Bucket List" spinners. Have you crossed off anything on their lists?
Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me!
Nain at View From Down Here - NEW on FRIDAY
Mama Badger at Out of the Boondocks and Into the Burbs - WELCOME BACK TO THE SP!
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Next week on The Spin Cycle...
Obsession
This one is for Jan at Jan's Sushi Bar.
I know we've all had them. Something we get so ridiculously involved in that we sort of lose our minds.
I mean, you might not be as bad as this lady...
or this guy...
But I bet you've had something that has just gotten a little out of hand, and kind of taken over your life.
Spin it. Post it. Tell me. I'll link it!
Share your spin!
Highlight the code.
Copy to your HTML.
Et voila! Linked!
Do you know where you find a black skirt like that? You have it made!!! Because you're going to sing at Carnegie Hall, and that's amazing, and you deserve to feel like you're in a skirt made for just on in that amazing moment. Get on that.
I'm so excited for you. Someone will record this and you'll link to it, right? With a few close ups of just you? I can't wait.
Posted by: MamaBadger | 05/03/2013 at 04:44 AM
Yay!!! Awesome!
Here's mine :-) http://viewfromdownhere-viewfromdownhere.blogspot.com/2013/05/bucket-list.html
Posted by: Alaina | 05/03/2013 at 05:08 AM
I didn't do a Bucket List Spin because I realized I don't really have one, unless you count living to a ripe old age (and if you take my mother into account, that will be 52).
But thank you for next week's. It gives me an excuse to take pictures of and talk about Beloved's vegetable gardening. Which extends to our living room.
(Oh, and the dalmation lady? I know a woman who's like that about frogs. Being in her house is a creepy, surreal experience.)
Posted by: Jan's Sushi Bar | 05/03/2013 at 06:04 AM
OH!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Posted by: Jan's Sushi Bar | 05/03/2013 at 06:06 AM
"We're NOT Worthy!"
Congratulations!!!!
Pull out the sewing machine and get cracking on the skirt or if that is not an option, like MamaBadger says, have it make special. This is Carnegie!
Posted by: Michele | 05/03/2013 at 06:30 AM
I'd like to know Joe. Choral music reminds me of high school and how our chorus went to Paris and I couldn't go. My mother couldn't afford it (and I remember being ambivalent at the time but years later it would hit me: Paris! I could have gone to Paris at 17 for 5 days and I missed it.) MOVING ON AWAY FROM MY TEARS, Carnegie Hall. Wow.
Posted by: Arnebya | 05/03/2013 at 06:59 AM
Oh, so excited for you! So wish I could be there to see it in person.
Have fun and enjoy not only the singing, but the trip itself!
Posted by: VandyJ | 05/03/2013 at 07:31 AM
Wonderful for you, the choir and Dr. Joe. What an amazing opportunity. You will rock that black skirt!
Posted by: Janice Adcock | 05/03/2013 at 07:44 PM
I don't know you but I'm very excited for you, nonetheless. Have a wonderful time—live in the moment and enjoy every second!
Posted by: IzzyMom | 05/07/2013 at 11:21 AM
Here's my Obsession spin!
Posted by: suzicate | 05/08/2013 at 08:54 AM
I totally missed this post...I'll admit it, I hate bucket lists and didn't want to write one. I love singing requiems! I sang Verdi's Requiem in college, and we sang part of Faure's Requiem in church last year. Is that morbid? But I have never sung Mozart! I'm so excited for you! Have fun!
Posted by: Ginny Marie | 05/17/2013 at 07:48 AM